LPW World Heavyweight Championship
The LPW World Heavyweight Championship is a professional e-wrestling world heavyweight championship in Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW). It is the highest ranked championship of the Insanity brand and one of two world titles in LPW, complementing the LPW International Heavyweight Championship of the Pyromania brand. It was established in 2003. History 'Golden Age' The LPW World Heavyweight Championship was originally called the PWA World Heavyweight Championship when LPW was named the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance (PWA). Created in the spring of 2003, the title was the top championship in the organization. The inaugural World Heavyweight Champion was Marty, who won the title at Annihilation, the promotion's first pay-per-view. Marty won the title in a tournament final over Phantom Lord in a Steel Cage match. During this Golden Age of the PWA, a bitter feud between Marty and Snapple threatened to tear apart the upstart e-federation. Culminating in a brutal Texas Death match, Snapple was not only able to defeat Marty for the title, but ended Marty's career in the process. Snapple's reign would not last long however, as PWA owner Villiano 187 had waited long enough for a singles title shot. Despite being labeled as an underdog, the first PWA match held under Disco Inferno Rules saw Villiano 187 capture his first World Heavyweight Championship. Under Villiano's reign, the PWA grew exponentially in popularity as SoL successfully defended the title a number of times. 'Silver Age' In 2004, PWA management decided to split the rosters into separate brands, respectively named Schizophrenia (now Insanity) and Pyromania, with the first PWA Draft dividing the roster. Although unconfirmed as to who held the World Heavyweight Championship, the title stayed on the flagship brand, thus forcing the newly-created Pyromania brand to create their own world title, the PWA International Heavyweight Championship. At the Resolutions pay-per-view, a cocky rich kid named SoL decided to take a bold step and challenged Villiano 187 for the World Heavyweight Championship. Believing he was truly better, the "New Breed" backed up his words, defeating the PWA founder for the title. SoL would go on to have a record-breaking run, with successful title defenses against Valleyboy, Stanman, and even defeating The D in a title-versus-career match. His dominance attracted the return of D. Hammond Samuels, as well as Phantom Lord. The trio created a power stable, named The Illuminati, which helped to serve SoL's purpose of holding the top title. SoL would continue his dominance at the cross-brand pay-per-view, Altered Reality II. In the lead up to the cross-brand Pay-Per-View, the PWA Board announced the creation of the Martinez Cup, which was to be contested at every Altered Reality between the World and International Heavyweight Champions. With SoL the reigning World Heavyweight Champion, he would face-off against the reigning International Heavyweight Champion, none other than his former Westside Connection tag team partner, Stone. In an epic encounter, SoL would get the best of Stone, taking home the inaugural Martinez Cup. After the match, the Illuminati took advantage of PWA owner Villiano 187's presentation of the Cup to SoL, when the stable forced the owner to sign the company over to them. While the Illuminati ran roughshod over Schizophrenia, SoL was challenged by 2TX to put his World Heavyweight Championship on the line in the main event of At All Costs (2005). It would be here that 2TX would end the dominant and record-breaking reign of SoL, pinning him to take the title home. The title wouldn't be his for long though, as SoL challenged for a rematch at the very next pay-per-view, Annihilation (2005). This time, under Ladder match stipulations, SoL would not only defeat 2TX, but injure him in the process. Despite winning the PWA U.S. Tag Team Championship on two occassions, with SoL back on top with the title, the relationship between SoL and D. Hammond Samuels began to sour and forced the Illuminati to fall apart. Samuels challenged SoL to put his World title on the line in a Tijuana Cage match at Revelations (2006). In his signature match type, Samuels brutalized SoL to win the championship. In his first defense, Samuels would defend against one of the victims of the Illuminati's dominance, and leader of the resistance against them, Pen. In a shocking match refereed by Pyromania's International Heavyweight Champion, Jaro, Samuels would lose the match and his World Heavyweight Championship at Schizos Wild (2006). However in a stunning turn of events, Jaro was fired for his dealings with the upstart Full Metal Wrestling promotion, Samuels was gifted the International Heavyweight Championship, and Pen announced he would retire after Altered Reality III. At Altered Reality III for the second Martinez Cup, Pen would face Samuels in a repeat performance of Schizos Wild, with Pen picking up the victory once again, and taking home the cup and title before officially retiring. 'Modern Era' On April 20, 2007, due to a continuing dispute between management, the PWA forked from Lords of Pain.net, thus the original PWA e-federation was renamed Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW) to reflect the site. As a result, the world title was officially renamed the LPW World Heavyweight Championship to reflect the new acronym and defended on the renamed Insanity brand. Because of its three Martinez Cup victories and longer longevity than the International title, many regard the World Heavyweight Championship as the most prestigious championship in Lords of Pain Wrestling. Reigns :Main article: List of LPW World Heavyweight Champions *The LPW World Heavyweight Championship was the first World Championship introduced into LPW in 2003, then the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance (PWA). *The inaugural champion was Marty. *Since introduced, there have been 12 different official champions, with SoL, X, and cYnical having tied for the most reigns at two. *The longest reigning champion was SoL who transitioned the title from the Golden Age to the modern era, having been on record to hold the title for 22 consecutive shows post-Golden Age. *The shortest reigning champion was Pen who officially held the title for 42 days. Before Altered Reality III, Pen announced his retirement. He would go on to win the Martinez Cup and subsequently retired. *There have been three out of four LPW World Heavyweight Champions to win the Martinez Cup against the LPW International Heavyweight Champion at Altered Reality. The three winning champions were SoL (II), Pen (III), and cYnical (V). Current champion The current champion is Morpheus, who defeated Sheepster for the title on March 7, 2011 at ''LPW Insanity LIVE from Springfield. See also *LPW World Heavyweight Championship gallery External links Category:Championships